Free The Bear King's Captive: Curvy Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance by Milly Taiden Page A

daydream. Fantasizing about fictional love did little good; it only made the loneliness harder to take. She needed to refocus. All she had to do was keep her and the boy hidden until she could get to the captain. Surely he wouldn’t be a bounty hunter on their side, would he?
     
     
    Leah jerked awake, not remembering when she fell asleep. Pain stabbed her head with every heartbeat. Her migraine pills were in her backpack two-thousand miles away.
    The wind whistled through the spaces between the crates she and Ivan hid behind. How long had she been out? She had planned to stay topside only a few hours to give the search crews time to scour the first decks and head to lower sections.
    A voice floated on the wind and Leah froze. It must’ve woken her. Whoever was on the other side of the crates didn’t sound happy. Leah inched up the canvas to peek an eye under. The view was the bottom of a crate at her nose. If she were to scoot down about a foot, she’d be able to see through a gap between the boxes.
    Ivan’s breaths came slow and steady. Hopefully, he wouldn’t wake until she needed him to. Slowly, Leah wormed her body along the sheets. When reaching the spot where light shined through a slat, she once again dared a peep.
    On the edge of her sightline, the bald monster who pressed her against the wall stood in the shadows. Looked like he had a phone. A broken voice floated on the wind.
    “The schedule is perfect…make sure to…Otso…” He stepped from his hiding place and slid against the crates blocking the wind next to her and the boy. “There’s an American woman and boy on the ship. Do whatever with the boy, but the woman is mine. An extra fifty thousand to the man who brings her to me alive.”
    A shiver took her attention from the open slot between two crates. Who was he talking to? The woman had to be her. That man was psycho and about twice her size, easily able to hurt her or the boy.
    The light between the crates flashed from a passing shadow. The man was on the move toward the rail. Leah peeked from under the tarp. The monster stumbled over the rope she and Ivan moved to free the tarp. She didn’t think to put it back where it was. A new level of paralyzing fear gripped her. If this man found them…
    The beast squinted into the dark recess between the crates and tucked the phone into his pocket. Leah pulled down the tarp, scooped the sheets to her chest and slid back as far as she could from the front edge.
    The wood crate two feet from her head cracked and popped as if stressed by heavy weight. The edge of the tarp lifted, allowing light to slide under.
    Ivan’s foot twitched against her back. This would not be a good time for him to wake. She sucked in a quiet breath and squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to block the images of what he would do to her. Otso said no one would hurt them, but he couldn’t stop this beast. Through her eyelids, the dark lessened with more light under the covering.
    A high-pitched twerp came from above. After a pause, the tarp fell to the ground. The monster’s voice sounded directly in front of her. “Yes, Commander. On my way, sir.” Another twerp. “Rat bastard…”
    Leah heard a solid object slam against a crate over and over until wood split. He stepped into her line of sight between the boxes and rubbed his bloody fist. Stomping footsteps faded along the catwalk headed to the other side of the boat.
    Air burst from Leah’s throat and immediately sucked back in. Her knuckles hurt from strangling the sheets. She swallowed a huge sob threatening to overtake body. The man was a damn lunatic. It freaked her out more that he willingly gave himself pain. If he enjoyed it that much, she could only imagine what he’d do to her.
    “Hey, what are you doing down there?” Ivan’s toe thumped her back. A slightly hysterical laugh escaped her.
    “Just enjoying the scenery.” The first hints of dawn lit the eastern horizon.
    “What scenery? We’re on a boat in the